Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of October 2, 2012

2013 – 2014 Budget
It looks like most of the excitement this week will be at Tuesday’s study session, where City Manager Broadnax will be presenting City Council with his recommendations for the 2013 – 2014 biennial budget.

And if you really want to keep an eye on the blow-by-blow action for the next biennium budget, you can watch the seven upcoming budget workshops that will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma.

 
• Tuesday, October 2,2012, at 12:00 noon

 
• Tuesday, October 9,2012, at 12:00 noon

 
• Thursday, October 11, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.

 
• Tuesday, October 16, 2012, at 12:00 noon

 
• Tuesday, October 23,2012, at 12:00 noon

 
• Tuesday, October 30,2012, at 12:00 noon

 
• Wednesday, October 31,2012, at 1 :00 p.m.

Purchase Resolution
There are quite a few items on the purchase resolution this week:

 
1. $544,324 budgeted from the Wastewater Fund for upgrades to Hylebos View and Vista View Pump Stations.

 
2. $895,000, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Wastewater and Surface Water Funds to host and maintain project management software services for Public Works capital improvement projects for an initial five-year term, with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, for a cumulative total of $1,339,000.

 
3. $514,800 funded by the City’s Insurance Policy for the 2308 South Holgate Roof Collapse Repair Project.

 
4. $1,165,000 budgeted from the Streets Special Revenue Fund with federal and
   state grants, for a cumulative total of $2,865,000, to increase the contract to reimburse Cascade Sierra Solutions for vehicle scrapping and clean truck fees paid to program participants.

 
5. $99,000 budgeted from Tacoma Employees’ Retirement System Operations and Administrations for a cumulative total of $790,000, to increase and extend the contract for additional services and special projects, including an annual Actuarial Valuation through December 31, 2014.

The first item replaces the parts of two wastewater pumps built more than 30 years ago, which are now past their service life. One of the pumps will be relocated and pipes rerouted to improve functionality and accessibility. Item 2 would pay for the initial set-up fee, implementation and training, and the annual license fee for a centralized project management system that can be utilized throughout the project planning, design, and construction phases by City staff, consultants, and contractors. Item 3 provides funds for repairs after the partial collapse of the roof of a 112-year old City-owned facility in a heavy rainstorm in November 2011.

Item 4 would direct additional funding to a program begun last year to improve local air quality by encouraging private owners of heavy diesel haul trucks to upgrade or replace their older vehicles with cleaner-emitting trucks. The original contract set some funds aside for vehicle scrapping and clean truck fees paid when participants replaced their older, dirtier trucks with newer cleaner vehicles. Due to the popularity of the program, and the desire of participants to purchase newer vehicles, the program will wrap up one year early, with significant savings, which, along with additional funds from the Washington Department of Ecology can be shifted from consultant and truck retrofit contracts to truck replacement. The program is fully funded by two grants: one federal and one state.

Retirement and Pensions
The two ordinances up for a first reading this week, along with a purchase resolution item, relate to retirement and pensions for City employees. The first ordinance makes changes to some of the language regarding the treatment of contributions in the absence of a designated beneficiary. The second ordinance is a bit of procedural business, reducing from 20 to 5 the number of signatures required to run for the “retired member” position on the Tacoma Employees Retirement System (TERS) Board of Administration. The Purchase resolution item would increase and extend a contract for additional services and special projects relating to TERS; these include additional annual valuations and “ad hoc projects as approved by the director.”

LID Approval
A resolution on the consent agenda for this week’s City Council meeting would approve the assessment roll for LID 3964 for the construction of a sanitary sewer near South 23rd and Adams Street.